Pollution-free, self-drive buses on their way to Oslo
Next year, you can order tickets on an electric, self-drive bus on the Router app. to get to your destination; a development welcomed by the Minister of Transport.
Aftenposten reported that Routes and City Environment (Ruter og Bymiljøetaten) will run the buses from March next year in Oslo and Akershus as a test project. The goal is to get 10 to 20 self-driven buses in operation.
‘A city-center service will teach us things other than a service at Bygdøy or in Nordre Aker would do,’ said Director of Mobility Services at Ruter, Endre Angelvik.
Wait five to ten minutes
If you want a bus, you order it through the Ruter app and there’ll be a five to ten minute wait. You decide where to go so long as it is within the test area.
On the road, the bus picks up other passengers.
There may also be fixed routes. The test period will end in January 2019.
A legislative amendment has been consulted upon, and the final proposal was transmitted to parliament before the summer. The proposal was for companies and municipalities to make application for permission to try out self-driving vehicles.
Solvik-Olsen says, ‘fantastic’
Minister of Transport and Communications, Ketil Solvik-Olsen ofFremskrittspartiet (Frp) is looking forward to the initiative from Ruter.
‘We celebrate the news that Ruter plans to start the testing of self-drive buses next year’, he wrote in a comment to NTB news agency.
‘It is amazing that Norwegian public companies will take such steps so quickly. It shows how important the legislation is, and what effect it has had in opening the way for this type of development and innovation in Norway.
The testing of self-driven vehicles facilitates the development and testing of new technology. It helps to ensure good competitive conditions for Norwegian technology companies, so that they can be at the forefront in creating new jobs and services,’ continued the Minister for Transport.
Presumably the new jobs will not be for bus drivers.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
